Tube-vending machine.



C. VALLONE.

TUBE BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11,1915.

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TUBE BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, I9I5.

l ,26 l 1 9 1 Patented Apr. 2, 1918.

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TUBE-BENDTNG MACHINE.

1,261.,1Qll.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented r'tor. 2 rats.

Application filed February 11, 1915. Serial No. 7,573.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, CHARLES VALLONE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Tube-Bending Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to machinery for bending tubing and more especially for the bending of metal pipes or tubes, of diverse cross-sectional configuration. The principal object of my invention is to provide machinery for bending tubing without flattening, cracking, breaking, creasing or otherwise disfiguring the tubing in the process of the bending operation. While it has been practical, by the exercise of some care, to bend thick wall tubing successfully, the maohinery heretofore used for bending tubing, so far as I am aware, has always caused, especially in bending thin walled tubing, some one or more of a number of different disfigurations, more common ones being the creasing of the tubing, as occurs when a paper tube is bent free-hand,,or the flattening thereof.

The walls of the tubing are sometimes pulled apart during the bending, owing to the stretching of the metal over the mandrel or other bending apparatus employed. The metal begins to stretch at one or more places, and as it stretches, weakens, thereby inviting more stretching at that point, and parting, breaks there.

It has always been necessary, where the tubes are used for fine work, to perform other operations on the tubing after the bending operation is over, in order to eliminate these disfigurations.

By my invention I am enabled to produce a machine which draws the metal out, fairly evenly distributing the strain and the stretching thereof, where there is stretching and the upsetting, where there is upsetting. By my invention 1 am enabled to readily, quickly, economically and efficiently bend any shape or character of tubing, even very thin walled tubing, and especially, metal tubing, without in any way disfiguring it, maintaining the cross section even, so that after the operation the tube is suitable for any of the finer purposes for which tubing is employed, such as for the manufacture of iron furniture.

Other objects of my. invention and the invention itself will probably be better understood from a description of an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of ray-invention with a portion of the bending wheel, wiper and one of the clamps cut away to illustrate the position of the mandrel.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the wiper.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the mandrel.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the mandrel.

Fig. 5 isa section of the mandrel through the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section of the mandrel through the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a section through the line 77 of Fig. 8, and i Fig. 8 is a modification showing a form of mandrel to be employed in the bending of rectangular tubing. 1

Referring now to the drawing and to the embodiment illustrated therein, at 9 is shown a base supporting the mechanism constituting the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings. At- 10 is shown a tube bending member, preferably having a curved surface, of whatever character desired, and here shown as a circular wheel. The member 10 is mounted upon a shaft 11 supported vertically in the frame in any suitable manner, the wheel being fastened to the shaft by any suitable means, which may include a nut 12. The tube is bent about the member 10. In the form shown. means are provided for transmitting power to the bending member 10, to move the same. In the embodiment of my invention illustrated, this means includes a gear wheel 13 vwhich is also mounted upon the shaft 11 mechanism, preferably through a belt. The

rim of the bending wheel 10 is provided with a groove 22 out in the periphery iii) all)

thereof, leaving flanges 23. This groove should be cut to fit the contour of the outer surface of the tube which is to be bent.

In the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, the mechanism is arranged for the bending of cylindrical tubing. The groove would, therefore, be substantially semi-circular in section on planes taken through the axis of shaft 11. The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 7 is also arranged for bending the tubing in some desired arc of a circle, and therefore, the portion of the bending wheel engaging the tube is an arc of a circle.

I also provide a mandrel 30 which is mounted in the interior of the tube, and over which the tube is bent. The use of a mandrel in tube bending is not new, but the construction of the mandrel is one of the important features of my invention, and in the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, T have shown the form of mandrel employed in bending cylindrical tubing in the are of a circle. The mandrel consists in its main portion of a cylindrical part 31 of substantially the same cross section as the interior of the tubing. A nose is formed on the end of the mandrel shown at 32. The inner side 33 of this nose is a continuation of the main portion 31, but the outside is inclined longitudinally from the base 34 to the point of the nose 37 in an arc of the same curvature as the arc of the bending member, here shown as being the arc of a circle. The transverse curvature of the nose is of the same curvature as the interior of the tube which is to be bent.

in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive, the transverse curvature of the portion of the nose 32 between 34 and 37 is circular, as is illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. The lower parts of the sections there shown are taken on radial planes from the center of the arc of the nose which extends from 34 to 3?. These lower parts are, as will be apparent in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, segments of circles and their lower boundaries are arcs of circles. In other words, the curvature of the outside of the nose is substantially the same in character as the curvature of the groove 22.

The mandrel may be described as consisting of a body portion 31 and the nose portion 32, of which the side 33 comprises an extension of the body portion, and the other side is bounded by the surface of revolution formed by revolving an element of the body portion about an exterior line in the plane of said element, preferably about a line passing through the axis of rotation of the bending wheel. ()f course, Where cylindrical tubing is to be bent and a mandrel, such as specifically illustrated in Fig. 3, is employed, the body portion is cylindrical and the element of the body portion is a circle.

The mandrel is supported by some suitother over the mandrel, the walls of the tube will be kept parallel all during the operation, the interior of the tubing upon one side being bent over the nose of the mandrel and being kept true to its shape, and the outside surface of the other side of the tubing being bent over the groove in the bending wheel, keeping its shape true to the shape of the groove. Means are provided for grasping one section of the tube, here shown as a pair of clamp grips 42 and 43. The grip 43 may be integral with the bending wheel, as illustrated in the drawing.

The clamp 42, however, is preferably made separate from the other parts, in order that it may be removed or swung clear of the clamp 43 when the tube is to be inserted or removed. The parts 42 and 43 are provided with grooves 44 and 45, respectively, of such contour that the tube is tightly gripped in the groove. Any suitable means may be provided for clamping the members 42 and 43. and a clamp screw 47. Means are also provided for holding another section of this tube, but preferably permitting longitudinal movement, the tube being permitted to slide longitudinally when bent. These means consist of a wiper 48 and a follower 49, which are positioned upon the frame in any suit able manner, and which are provided with grooves 50 and 51, respectively, into which the tube fits in such a manner that when the follower and the wipe-r are drawn closely together, the tube is free to move longitudinally, but cannot move transversely.

The wiper remains stationary during the operation of the machine, but the follower moves with the tube as it is bent. I employ means for effecting the close association of these members to effect this form of clamping grip, which is here shown as a clamp arrangement 52.

The wiper 48 lso comprises one of the important features of my invention, and it is illustrated in perspective in Fig. 2. The groove 50 is formed to fit the exterior of the tube to be bent and extends along the side 54 of the wiper from end to end. The end l have here shown a bracket 46 of the Wiper adjacent the wheel is cut away,

reenter close fit in order to prevent any deformity of the tube at this pomt. The wiper is held in position in the form of my invention shown; by a threaded rod connected to one end of the wiper and at the other end to a brackettl connected to the frame in ny suitable manner, such as by a bolt 62 which passes through a slot $3 in the bracket, and another slot 6-1 in the frame. When the aoparatus is in initial position, the curved, surface of the groove of the wiper is tangent to the rim of the bending wheel and in alinement with the groove in the member 43. The grooves in the Inembers 48, 10 and 43, when in initial, position, form a continuous straight groove from one end of the member 48 to the opposite end of 43, and when the machine is operated this continuous groove will be curved. The members 49 and 44 will also be so associated that when the machine is ready for open ation a continuous groove will be formed between one end of the member 4:9 and the other end of 42.

The tube Will thus be admired, inside and outside, before and through the bending operation, up to the base 34 of the nose of the mandrel, and as it passes over the nose it will be confined on the inner side of. the semi-cylindrical half farthest from the wheel, and on the outer side of the other half by the mandrel and the wheel, respecn of the mandrel.

tively.

In the operation of the embodiment of my invention illustrated, the clamps 42 and 43 are loosened and a tube of the desired length is inserted between these members and thence over the mandrel and the rodl0, until the section which it is desired to bend envelope the mandrel. The clamps are then screwed down and the power applied, the clamps 42 and 43 being turned with the bending wheel and the tube bent over the rim of the wheel and the mandrel. As explained, the walls of the tube section being bent will throughout the bending operation engage either the walls of the groove in the wheel or the nose of the mandrel, and as these two surfaces are parallel, the surfaces of the tube will be kept parallel during the operation, thus preventing any deformity of the tube. As the wheel rotates, the tube will be drawn through the wiper and follower, over the mandrel and the rim of the wheel continuing the bending operation until the desired amount of bending has been performed. The machinery is then stopped and the clamps removed, after which, the tube may be withdrawn and the parts restored to normal to begin another tending operation.

In the form shown in 8, l have shown a modified form of mandrel 70, employed for bending rectangular 0* square tubing into circular arcs. The longitudinal curvature of the nose 7]. will be the arc of a circle, but the transverse elements will be straight lines to fit the lines of the square or rectangular tubing, asthe case may be. This mandrel may be provided with a train of rolls, here illustrated as constituting two rolls 72 and Y3, which extend beyond the end of the nose of the mandrel, and which are connected to the nose by some flexible means to permit them to turn with the tube as it is bent, and to further prevent any deformity of the tube when its nature is such that unusual care must be exercised to prevent its deformity. As illustrated in Fig. 8, the flexible means consists of a plurality of pivoted links 74, 75, 76 and 77. The end of the nose of the mandrel, is cut away, as shown at 7 8 and 79 to form a bearing for the links and the links are pivoted in these bearings, for example, by screws or rods, as shown at 80. The rolls are also cut away as illustrated at 81, 82 and 83 to form a bearing for thelinks and to providespace for them to turn in the desired angle during the bending operation. Suitably shaped rolls may likewise be employed 1n bending other types of tubin The form of my invention T have illus trated anddescribed herein is constructed for bending cylindrical tubing, or more broadly speaking, tubing symmetrical with respect to a plane through the vertical plane vious that the configuration of the mandrel and the bending member 10 may be varied to meet the various shapes of tubing it is desired to bend. In certain cases, such as with triangular tubing, the character of curvature of the nose of the mandrel and the groove in the member 10 might be different, but the longitudinal curvature would always be substantially the same.

It will be also readily understood that ll am not limited to any form of bending wheel, or any form of mandrel, as the same may be varied to meet the conditions of desired curvature, desired section. of tubes, or the character of curve which it is desired to apply to the tube. In fact, my invention contem lates many variations of the modification s iown and many departures from the form and details thereof. l have illustr ted this embodiment for the purpose of better describing my invention, and not that l wish to be limited to the form and details shown, the scope of the invention being better set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mandrel for tube bending having a cylindrical'portion and a nose portion with portion being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the revolving of an it will, of course, be ob--' llll ll gen lldtl elemental circle of the cylindrical portion about an. exterior line in the plane of said circle.

2. A mandrel for tube bending having a body portion and. a nose portion With converging sides, one side of the nose portion comprising an extension of the body portion and the other side of the nose portion being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the revolving of an element of the body portion about an exterior line in the plane of said element.

3. In a tube bending machine, the combination of a bending Wheel, a mandrel having a body portion and a nose portion, one side of the nose portion comprisin an extension of the body portion and the other side of the nose portion being arc-shaped longitudinally and being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the revolving of an element of the body portion about an exterior line in the plane of said element passing I through the axis of rotation of said bending Wheel, and apparatus to position said mandrel with the longitudinal arc of its nose concentric With the bending Wheel.

l. ln a tube bending machine, the combination of a bending wheel, a mandrel having a cylindrical portion and a nose portion, one side of the nose portion comprising an en tension of the cylindrical portion and the other side of the nose portion being arcshaped longitudinally and being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the revolving of an elemental circle of the cylindrical portion about an exterior line in the plane of said circle and passing through the axis of rotation of the bending Wheel and apparatus to position said mandrel With the longitudinal arc of its nose concentric with the bending Wheel.

5. A mandrel for tube bending having a body portion and a nose portion, one side of the nose portion comprising a straight entension of the body portion and the other side of the nose portion being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the re volving of an element of the body portion about a line in the plane of said element and Without any diameter thereof.

6. A mandrel for tube bending having a body portion and a nose portion with eon verging sides, one side of the nose portion being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the revolving of an element of the body portion about an exterior line in the plane of said element.

7. A mandrel for tube bending having a body portion. and a nose portion With converging sides, one side of the nose portion being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the revolving of an element of the body portion about a line in the plane of said element and off the long axis of the mandrel.

8. A mandrel for tube bending having a cylindrical portion and a nose portion with converging sides, one side of the nose portion being bounded by the surface of revolution formed by the revolving of an elemental eirw cle of the cylindrical portion about a line in the plane of said circle and exterior of any diameter thereof.

9. A structure as specified in claim 3 in combination with means to grip and hold the tube on either side of the mandrel.

10. A structure as specified in claim 4: in combination "with means to grip and hold the tube on either side of the mandrel.

11. A mandrel for tube bending having a body portion and a nose portion, one side of: the nose portion comprising an extension of the body portion and the other side of the nose portion being bounded by the surface of revolution forms by the revolvin of an ele ment of the body portion about a line in the plane of the element and Without a diameter thereof, the last named side of the nose portion joining the body portion at one end and the other side of the nose portion at the other end and being arc-shaped longitudinally from end to end.

lln Witness whereof, l have signed my name, in the presence of two Witnesses, this 20th day of January, 1915.

Gl-li iltlLES VALL'ONE.

Witnesses:

E. J. lBAncovv, A. ll lireron, 

